Jayakarta Restaurant

I love.love.all the foods on the menu. Tasty and delicious. I tried almost everything on the menu. Service is good and fast. My favorites are; pepes ikan and kangkung terasi.

Huh. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing, but I got a Singaporean curry noodle soup. I was expecting rice noodles (chow fun) but I got something else that was more vermicelli-​like. Not the restaurant’s fault; just different expectations. I don’t think it was so amazing that I’d have to go back. It was whatever. I ate half of it and left the rest in a container outside for someone in need.

I never tried Indonesian food before but Jayakarta is definitely a great start for this cuisine. Its popularity can be easily seen as there is always a long queue out there.
First of all, the menu looks (well, I will leave this to Indonesian people to judge) very authentic: There are probably over 50 choices for entrees and several appetizers. They also offer some special drinks made from shaved ice which are very delicious. With so many choices, the reasonable prices made them even better. I enjoyed their special fried noodle. I dont remember the name but I noticed that almost every table ordered it.
They also offer five levels of spicyness, and they claimed that their food is the spiciest in the Bay Area. Well, it did burn my tongue. Looking forward to my next visit.

We love that this place is so close to where we live and that the dishes are pretty close to what you’d get in Indonesia. Our favourites are the mie tek tek (we always order extra so we could pack some home haha), lontong chap go meh and the nasi bungkus which comes with oh-​so-​delicious gudeg. Price is reasonable too, in fact cheaper than what you’d get Downtown SF. The only downside is that seats are quite limited so if you go on a weekend evening, be prepared to wait.

I want to give Jayakarta Restaurant a four star review, but perhaps I came at a bad time and it just was not as good as I would have hoped that has led to this three star review. On a Saturday night at 7:30, we were next in line, but for some reason, we were not seated even though tables were available and the worst part was that a lot of people were not seated who could have been seated in a prompt manner.
FOOD: Mie Tek Tek is the Unilocal claim to fame here. I found the Mie Tek Tek similar to many other types of Southeast Asian street hawker fare that I have had before (thinking of food in Penang, Malaysia and Singapore). I will say that Mie Tek Tek tries to get the complexity of SE Asian food well with the spiciness, nuttiness, saltiness, and tang all in a bite, but this Mie Tek Tek lacked that umami flavor profile common in Asian cuisine. I found the food to be a bit over-​salted and overall, not pan fried as well as I would have hoped. I wish now that I had gotten something else, but maybe I am looking for something else more unique than Mie Tek Tek. Considering we got seated closer to 8:30 and they closed at 9:00, they probably prepped the food too quickly and was unable to make it as delicious as others on Unilocal rave.
SERVICE: A miss by a long shot here. The service was rushed and poor.
Maybe if I came at a better time and ordered something else more unique on the menu would have been better.

My friend was raving about this place and she wanted to take me here to try the food and I was open to it as long as it wasn’t too spicy. My friend, however, likes her food spicy. Funny thing though she ordered the curry chicken and she asked for it to be medium spicy. We also ordered the fish cake appetizer and it wasn’t what I expected but it was tasty.
I ordered #32, the Nasi Lemak, coconut rice surrounded by BBQ coconut chicken and a skewer of BBQ chicken. Served along side one perkedel (deep-​fried ground potatoes), fresh cucumbers, and teri kacanag (fried anchovies mixed with peanuts). Unfortunately, my friend thought her curry chicken was a bit dry, not tender and all dark meat. I guess she should have asked if it was white or dark meat chicken. Mine was okay, alittle on the dry side took but we both enjoyed the fried anchovies!

There are times in life when you are hungry and and need food. There are times when you are hungry and need something remarkable. For the times that you need remarkable Indonesian food, come here. Noodles, soups, curries… Be wary of the spice level… I’m a fan of spicy, but the level three was enough!
Comfy and cozy, this is the definition of a hole in the wall. Service was quick, and the tek tek noodles are the thing of dreams…
My advice, ask for vinegar. I feel it cuts through the spiciness and adds the wee bit of acid needed for ultimate perfection.
I can’t wait to go back!

This place is kinda over rated… I believe I’ve tasted better laksa elsewhere. Kinda disappointed when the hype isn’t real.
We ordered a few other things, but nothing stood out for being rated #1 :(. Unilocal fail.

Many friends had recommended this place as the best Indonesian restaurant in the Bay area. I’m afraid that Jayakarta didn’t meet the very high expectations we had.
We went on a Sunday at 5 PM to catch dinner before a concert at the Greek Theater. The restaurant was pretty crowded but we managed to get a table for two.
The first problem was the slowness in taking our order. They were running very lean in terms of staff (not sure if this is their usual standard) and the person that finally took our order after 15 minutes of sitting there was the cashier. We ordered the perkedel (potato patty with ground beef) as an appetizer, the mie tek tek (fried noodles), chicken gizzards with pete (called stink beans on the menu, and they look like stinky lima beans), and the ayam kalasan (fried chicken marinated with palm sugar). We also ordered two rice portions
Dishes arrived one at a time. The noodles arrived quickly and were delicious. We didn’t get any plates so we could share the dish. We ended up eating right out of the serving plate. No biggie, I suppose.
The chicken gizzards arrived next. For $ 10 it was a pitifully small portion; by my count ten gizzards and 5 stink beans. The flavor was just OK. They also only brought out one order of rice for some reason. We had to ask 2 – 3 times to get the other portion of rice.
Almost one hour into dinner the chicken finally arrived. It was a pretty good dish but again it was just OK.
The appetizer never arrived. We did see the same dish delivered to the table behind us and they arrived a good 30 minutes after we did. We overheard another table complaining that they didn’t get one of their dishes and their additional order of rice. This place just seems really disorganized.
The cashier was apologetic about the appetizer not arriving which was nice. We were still pretty disappointed about the overall meal and experience

I’ve been here for three times now for the last one month. I’ve tried their Nasi Rames, Martabak Telur, Nasi Rendang, Mie Tek Tek, Nasi Ayam Penyey, Siomay Bandung. All of which were not only very good but also authentic, I can tell because I’m Indonesian. The Siomay can be better though.
If you have no idea what to order for Indonesian food: I would recommend try Sate Ayam for chicken, try Nasi Rendang for beef, Nasi Goreng or Mie Goreng is always a safe and good choice.
Feedback for improvements would be better service (in terms of friendliness, and quick customer interaction).
Wish them luck

Looking for home cooked Indo-​Singaporean dish? Look no more!!!
The place is hole in wall, non-​pretentious. Don’t come here to impress your date with ambience! Come here to make your date feel good!
We ordered fish, veggie with coconut sauce, chicken, skewers & coconut rice. All gone in a jiffy!
Oh btw, they have a very good selection of SOUTHEAST ASIAN BEERS!!! Just sayin’…

Checks Unilocal for restaurants to try. Looks promising, I might as well give it a try. Everyone mentions that the food is great, but nobody mentions about the service here.
Ordered: Nasi Goreng, Siomay Bandung (Fish Dumplings), &
Mie Tek-​tek.
Food: Great flavor, aromatic, and great umami flavor. My favorite was the Mie Tek-​tek because of the fried egg, spices, and nutty flavor.
Service: This is the part that needs to be talked about. I’ve been waiting here for 30 minutes or more for dinner time at 6:30p.m. I noticed that none of the employees were checking the waiting list. Guests had to seat themselves. This is chaotic. Nobody is keeping track of who has been seated or crossing off names. I noticed two college girls (assuming since they are wearing college sweaters) came in, put their names down on the list, stand in front, and was quickly seated by an employee. This doesn’t add up due to the fact that there were other people ahead of them with the same party size. Again this goes back to COMPLETELY ignoring the waiting list. What’s the point of the waiting list if nobody is even LOOKING at it?!
Also to mention that they forgot three of our drinks. Come on, this should be the simplest task to charge customers to get a profit off of.
Overall: I would love to give this place a three-​four stars, but from the lack of service. I’m sticking to two stars.

This place smelled delicious! As soon as you enter, the strong scent of garlic and spices makes you hungry…
We came here on a Sunday afternoon, it was busy… We were a group of 6 and grabbed the last table. They have a lot of choices on their menu. I thought it was funny they added Unilocal reviews on it. The menu had something for everyone in our group.
They took our orders right away. Food came slow, one dish came out at a time. So it was kinda hard to wait for everyone to get there food and eat together. Ok, wait 5 – 10 pushing it but in the space of 15 – 20, that’s pushing it. Food comes out fresh and made to order which is nice but difficult in a large group situation when your on a schedule.
Maybe the next time I’ll come with just a plus 1. Food quality was good. Servers were friendly and as attentive as they could be.

They have a board saying #1 Indonesian food in the bay area. Actually I’d believe that! The foods are really good. It’s my first time trying out Indonesian food and it’s out of my expectation. The meat are really tender and soft, and the Mie Tek-​Tek is a must-​try dish. Plus they are all at a reasonable price!

I am not an expert with Indonesian food although I’ve had my fair share at quite a few restaurants in the Bay. I’d have to say that this spot was my least favorite of those spots I’ve tried. The food was not bad but it wasn’t great. We love starting off with the roti and I wasn’t impressed with the sauce at all. It was extremely bland and didn’t do anything for the roti itself. We also ordered the beed rendang which is a staple. Although decent, the spices weren’t on par and also lacked with flavor. The meat was tender though. For our last dish, we ordered the oseng-​oseng tempe which was a veggie dish mixed with tofu. I thought the sweetness was overpowering but packed in punch when it came to flavor profile.
I felt that the dishes needed a bit more spice, kick, boom. It’s a great indo option out in the Berkeley area but I’d probably opt for other choices in the area. 3 stars.

My first time eating indonesian food and it did not disappoint! As all the reviews say, get the mie tek tek! I can’t eat spicy but they made it non spicy for me. (They have a disclaimer for their spice levels and analogies lol) Still tastes BOMB. The sauce is working its magic. You know that feeling when you’re like «oh sh*t» kinda sad and happy at the same time because the dish is so freaking good you know you’re going to come here all the time but only order that one dish everytime because you can’t waste an opportunity to eat it and can’t bear to try something new. Yeah that’s what I’m feeling. I can’t wait to bring my family and bf here! Also looking to try that one ethnic dessert dish next time, something grated cheese with condensed milk.
The menu is messy but I love how they incorporate Unilocal reviews on their most popular dishes.
But this place needs to work on their ventilation. I can see the smoke drifting from the kitchen when walking in and leave with a strong smell on my hair and clothes. They slightly open one window but that’s not enough. Service can also take a while but from what I saw only one man was working in the floor and sometimes another would come from the kitchen to serve food. Anyways would definitely come back again and again!

Mie tek tek. It’s spicy, it’s packed with immense flavor, and if you haven’t met yet, you absolutely need to be acquainted. I’ve been here four times and I’ve never ordered anything else.
Just another amazing place to grab ethnic cuisine in Berkeley. The usual.

If you’re trying to find a good place to eat authentic Indonesian food in the Bay Area, your choices are very limited. You either: 1) grew up in an Indonesian household where your parents would cook it, 2) occasionally come across some type of night market where they sell certain types of food/​dishes, 3) have to go to The City (San Francisco) where driving and parking is absolutely horrible and frustrating. Jayakarta Restaurant is an Indonesian establishment where you get a good compromise and alternative to any of the above situations.
This establishment has some of the best Indonesian food and desserts I’ve had that makes you feel like you’re eating Indo food in the motherland itself! There are a wide variety of dishes that one can choose from and the portion of each dish really is pretty fair with all things considered.
Actual location of the restaurant seems to be a hole in the wall, although I feel like it can fit a good amount of customers compared to other hole in the walls I’ve been to. The area surrounding the place doesn’t seem that high end or too comforting either, given the fact that you’ll be walking down the sidewalk and see a bunch of homeless people sleeping on the concrete or begging for money. However, this is Berkeley we’re talking about and the chances of one not running into an area as I mentioned is pretty rare if not impossible. But will all that said, stopping by and getting home cooked Indonesian food is pretty worth it.
Pricing of each dish is reasonably fair given that the food doesn’t taste as if it was made the night before and even for you broke UC Berkeley students out there, it’s still cheap enough for you to eat at and not break the bank! Overall, I would highly recommend Jayakarta Restaurant to anyone craving a good meal that is filling and delicious!

Arrived around 6:30pm on a weeknight and it was pretty empty. It didn’t take too long for this place to fill up, however. I’ve only had Indonesian food a couple of times so can’t judge the food too well.
Ordered the rendang beef and it was okay. Wish it was more tender and has a little more flavor. The highlight was the mie tek tek. Similar to chow mien but with hints of peanut butter and a kick to it. Probably not the healthiest option but somedays you need comfort food.
I would be curious to try out more dishes but not a must go place unless you are in the area. Solid 3.5 stars.

I just finished a meal at a new favorite place in Berkeley. I have yet to try everything but so far so good.
I had the capcay and beef ball soup which is the prefect combination for something light yet filling since I am getting ready for another competition in a few months.
If you are in the area and want to try something different this place is a must try.